So earlier this month I purchased a bicycle and have been pretty much getting around exclusively by cycling or walking. It's saved me a ton of gas and/or bus fair and it is good exercise. Anyway, after work I went to the gym and then started to head home but while on the highway I somehow popped my rear tire. I carried my bike to a nearby dirt road and changed the inner-tube. What a real pain in the wazooo! The rear tire in particular. That and it is mosquito-season where I live (generally considered bad for mosquitoes) and I was eaten alive while I changed the tube. Maybe it's time to invest in a cell phone to call for a ride if I get stuck that far from home My front tire went flat a few weeks earlier as well(my fault, didn't see the pothole). Maybe I'm just unlucky but does anyone have any cycling horror stories to make me feel better? (Yes, I'm a terrible person for wanting to hear about other people's troubles to cheer me up!)
if i cycled more then i would not want to hear horror stories because it just would leave me paranoid one time i was cycling with friends up a mountain a long long way from home, and my chain snapped and i went flying over the handlebars and badly hurt my arm and cut my face. i then had to carry the bike home, which took 4 hours. not cool
When I was five-ish, I was going down a hill REALLY fast, and I completely face planted it. Practically peeled my face off. I lost a permanent tooth and two baby teeth. (The permanent tooth was one of the frontmost ones on my top jaw). I have a retainer with a tooth on it that I wear now. And I have a scar on my nose.
When I was younger I used to try and ride my bike a block with my eyes closed. Got pretty good at it until I tried doing it up a hill for a block and apparently when I stand on the bike I tend to veer one way and the next thing I knew my front tire met the curb and I flew over the couple feet of grass between the road and sidewalk to land right on the sidewalk. I ended the eyes closed riding after that... These days I've lucked out with the bike problems so far...
Worst thing ever that happened to me was the time I was biking home from school. I was going down hill really fast and then I noticed that the handlebar was in a higher position. It felt strange so I looked at it and then I found out that it wasn't attached to the bike frame anymore. :eek: But the lucky thing was that brakes still worked so I applied them slowly and it came to a stop after about 10 seconds but it seemed like ages. Funny thing is that I can't ride with no hands at all (still can't) but some how I managed when this happened.
My bike is my main method of transportation in Boston. Freakin love it... except for crazy drivers. I was hit once by a woman who cut me off while she was talking on her cell phone. If it wasn't for the fact that I was wearing a helmet, I would probably have been in a coma. Yup - I hit my head on the pavement. No worries though, I miraculously had only a few scratches and bruises.